“As far as our program, we’re a work in progress and this is the next step,” MSU head coach Mark Dantonio said. “I think we have a very strong foundation at this point and we will continue to move this program forward. I’m extremely excited about this and I can’t tell you
how much this means to this football program and the university in general.”

MSU receives an allotment of 12,000 tickets for the Capital One Bowl. Tickets are $80 each and are available by calling the Spartan Athletic Ticket Office at 1-800-GO-STATE or by logging onto msuspartans.com. The game will also be nationally televised on ABC.

“It’s going to be a great opportunity not only for our team, but for those that support Michigan State,” MSU Athletics Director Mark Hollis said. “To be able to come together down there … it’s a great opportunity.”

The Bulldogs, who entered the season as the No. 1 team in both major polls, were 9-3 overall and finished second in the Southeastern Conference’s East Division with a conference record of 6-2.

The game will feature two of the top running backs in the country with Georgia’s Knowshon Moreno (1,338 rushing yards, 16 touchdowns) and MSU’s Javon Ringer (1,590 rushing yards, 21 touchdowns). Both players, along with Iowa’s Shonn Greene, are finalists for the Doak Walker
Award, given annually to the nation’s best running back. The ceremony will take place in Orlando, Fla. on Thursday.

“As a competitor anything he does I’m going to try to top and that’s going to be a big step because he is a tremendous running back,” Ringer said of the matchup against Moreno. “He’s a tremendous player and a tremendous athlete … and the competitor side of me is going to
make sure anything he does, I’m going to do better to help my team.”

Along with Moreno, Georgia is also led by junior quarterback Matthew Stafford. Stafford has thrown for 3,209 yards, 22 touchdowns and nine interceptions while completing 61 percent of his passes.

Defensively, the Bulldogs are led by sophomore linebacker Rennie Curran, who finished the regular season with 109 tackles, nine for loss, and three sacks.

Ringer said despite not officially knowing they were playing Georgia until today, he and his teammates have been watching film on the Bulldogs in anticipation of the matchup. Hoyer said after watching some film on the Bulldogs, it’s easy to see why they were so highly
thought of heading into the season.

“They’re definitely very athletic (and) everything you think about an SEC team (is there),” Hoyer said. “Their line is athletic, their linebackers are athletic and obviously their secondary, so you can see why they were the preseason No. 1 team. They have a lot of athleticism and are very sound. It’s a good test for us to see where we’re at to
go against one of the top defenses in the SEC.”